Rot And Decay In Hamlet Analysis

When buried six feet down, without a coffin, an unembalmed corpse normally takes eight to twelve years to decompose to a skeleton. On that note “There is something rotten in the state of Denmark” (I.iv.90). Within Hamlet, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark’s forever fading state due to the insane amount of rot and decay taking place. Hamlet is a play about a hurting son trying to seek revenge on his father’s death, but unlike many others he has difficultly taking action. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet the motif of rot and decay is revealed when Hamlet talks about maggots on a lifeless dog (II.ii.185), when Hamlet states worms are the emperor of all diets (IV.iii.26), and when he holds a skull of a deceased person and talks about who it could be. (V.i.74). Rot and decay can be found all throughout Hamlet. A prime example of this is when Hamlet talks about Maggots breeding on a departed dog in the burning sunlight. This quote comes from the scene were Polonius is trying to confirm Hamlet is crazy because he was forbidden to talk to Ophelia who he was in love with. Hamlet says to Polonius “Since if the sun breeds maggots on a dead dog kissing the corpse – by the way do you have a daughter?” (II.ii.182). In this quote Hamlet is talking about maggots eating the corpse of a dead dog to breed in the warmth of the sunlight to be seen by

Scenes such as maggots and a dead dog, worms being the ruler of all diets, and unearthed skulls confirm this with the utmost authority. The motif of rot and decay is limitless in Hamlet. It improves on the intense imagery William Shakespeare has to offer in his plays, making it more realistic for the readers as if it was to be placed in the actual scene. Hamlet is a play that teaches us to love and imply intense imagery to improve on the play, it lets us experience rot and decay first hand as if the scene were to